6. Satisfied

"You should have fear of some things. It doesn't mean it incapacitates you from your ability to figure out a way to deal with it." - Chris Hadfield

"Fu!"

Tikki careened into the small shop owned by the elderly man at a dizzying speed, caring not if she was seen by anyone. Under normal circumstances, that would be the small Kwami's main priority, but as these were not normal circumstances, she for once payed it no , no one else was in the shop to notice her. In fact, Fu wasn't even their.

Instead, it was just Bridgette.

"Tikki?" Bridgette asked in confusion, furrowing her brow and putting down her book. She had been intently reading up on the French language - it would do her some good to speak the native tongue a bit more fluently. "What's wrong?"

"Their was - and a - Chat Blanc! And a, uh…." Tikki sputtered off, unable to finish her sentence. Weather this was due to being out of breath or simply being unable to communicate exactly what happened, Bridgette couldn't tell.

"Tikki, what happened…." Bridgette trailed off upon seeing the collection behind the small Kwami. Alya and Nino stood worried, their Kwai's flittering around nervously and calling for Master Fu. They were detransformed and looked spooked beyond scared. They looked like they had seen their future ghosts. But what really made Bridgette stop was Adrien - or rather, Chat Noir, since he hadn't bothered to return to his civilian form. Held tightly in his arms was the crumpled and disheveled form that was Marinette, passed out cold and sweating profusely. The blonde boy was completely still, his voice expressionless of everything. Bridgette vaguely noted that he was in shock - she had read about it in one of Felix's old psychology textbooks.

"Oh my goodness…." she murmured and hurried over to the group, passing her former Kwami.

"What happened?"

As expected, Adrien didn't answer, and instead acted as if he hadn't heard anything. Bridgette then turned to Alya, who was more than willing to answer the question.

"Mari woke up sick this morning. We all thought it was run of the mill cold, you know?" Alya explained quietly, folding her arms across her chest. "And Tikki managed to hold off any infection long enough for her to transform and then...he showed up and everything….I…..we….." Alya cut off then, unable to continue. Nino placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and took a deep breath to steady himself, just coming to terms with what happened himself.

"He?" Bridgette asked. "Who is this he?"

Even though she asked, Bridgette was pretty sure she knew the answer. But maybe, just maybe, they were wrong. Maybe Felix hadn't made his first move, maybe she could still pretend that this in someway was happening, maybe -

"Felix," Nino said finally, and the narrator that told the story of Bridgette's life finally took note of the severity of Felix's condition. "He, um, he was the one that made Mari sick, we don't know why or what his deal is for making her so, but we didn't know where else to go."

"You came to the right place," Bridgette said in the most empathetic voice she could muster, although it probably came out as apathetic. But she herself was now going through her own series of emotions, and found herself unable to really empathize with the teens right now. That probably made her selfish, but she really didn't care at the moment.

"Can you help her?"

Bridgette looked up, startled to hear Adrien's voice. Everyone else appeared shocked too, because all (including the frantic Kwamis) turned to the blonde boy in surprise. Bridgette blinked once and contemplated any answer she might be able to give him. The truth - that she knew about as much as they did at this point and therefore would be of no help at least until Fu returned? Or the bold faced lie that she could help him? One look at his shattered expression told her that both were disastrous, he would never believe the lie and would be devastated at the truth.

"Maybe," the Irish woman settled upon, finding it to be perhaps the closest to the truth she could come without outright lying or breaking his heart. She turned around and lead them toward the back room.

"Come with me," she said. "She can lay back here until Fu returns."

Chloe Bourgeois is not what you would call - er, what's the word?

Observant.

Anyone that had been victim to insensitive comments at inopportune moments could vouch for this fact, or her teachers that had noticed her playing a game on her phone when she should be doing worksheets or taking notes. When she came into her bedroom, it was no surprise she paid no notice to the fact the lights were out, being too preoccupied playing on her phone and thinking about the past day of the school (where she had failed to notice that Alya, Nino, and Adrien had failed to return following lunch).

"Ugh!" she complained loudly, staring at her phone intently. "My battery is almost dead!"

She tossed the phone onto the couch lazily, not really noting the appearance of the couch at the present moment as she walked over to her bed. If she had, she would have noticed the leather wearing man sitting cross-legged on the couch, his white outfit almost blinding in the dark light. He reached out his hand and took the yellow device in his hand.

"Interesting that that is your main concern," he said smoothly.

Chloe froze at the sound of the voice, her breath catching in her throat. A thousand, no a million things ran through her head, scenarios of what this could possibly me. Her first thought was an Akuma, after all she had been public enemy number one for several of them, but then she remembered that she hadn't done anything to make anyone too upset today. Yet. So that left it as a run of a mill home invasion.

In some ways, that was even worse. Because that meant Ladybug and Chat Noir weren't coming. She was on her own right now, until she could call for help.

"There is no need to be afraid," he said smoothly, standing and walking over to her. Chloe remained standing with her back to him, unable to turn, being rooted in the spot absolutely. Oh, God. Why was he coming over? Why was here? What was happening? Wh -

Breathe. Chloe. Breathe.

"Who are you?" she ventured quietly. "Why are you here?"

He let out a stifled, quiet laugh and continued his frightening march towards the teen girl. Chloe's breath hitched again as he stepped closer to her, but she swallowed down a scream that was in her throat.

Don't show fear. Don't show fear. Don't show -

"My name is Chat Blanc," he said, coming to stop behind her. "And I need your help for my plan."

"Chat Blanc?" Chloe scoffed half-heartedly, feigning any confidence she could muster. "What are you, some kind of Chat Noir groupie?"

Now it was his turn to catch his breath in his throat, but not out of fear, but out of some emotion that Chloe found herself unable to name. Disgust? Fear? Anger? She had little time to deal with figuring this out, because the man spoke again.

"No, I am not a groupie," Chat Blanc hissed with malice. "I am nothing like that wannabe superhero."

"Okay, okay," Chloe quickly said in a rush to apologize. "I'm sorry, I just -"

"Oh, Chloe, you're not sorry," Chat Blanc said, passing her and turning to face her head on. She finally got a good look at him; much like her he had blonde hair, he had eyes the color of the greenest fields, and he wore an entire leather suit. Even though the man had claimed to be nothing like that the famed hero of Paris, Chloe would have bet money that they were in some way connected. "I mean, you said it after all."

Chloe blinked once and took a step back, bringing a hand to rest on her chest. How - how did Chat Blanc know her name? Were her assumptions incorrect, was he an Akuma here to hurt her?

"Y-you knnow my nname?" she stamerd. Chat Blanc folded his hands behind his back and cocked his head to the side, as if seeing something about her that she didn't.

"Of course I know your name!" he said, as if it were an impossibility that he didn't know it. "After all, you're the key to helping conquer my task."

Conquer? Task?

"W-what are you talking about?" she asked, narrowing her eyes in confusion.

"Hawkmoth grows stronger everyday," Chat Blanc mused to her, starting to pace across the floor in large strides. Chloe kept her eyes trained on the man with a sense of curiosity, her fear taking a back seat. "But there will come a day where Ladybug and her pesky allies will defeat him, of that I have no doubts. When the day comes, do you really think that they will give up their power?"

Chloe didn't respond, instead biting the inside of her cheek.

"It's highly likely that they will do to Paris what Hawkmoth is doing now," Chat Blanc said, turning away from her and facing out into Paris with a calculating sneer. "And then who will stop them then?"

"But why would they do that?" Chloe defended her idols. "They are here to protect us."

"I don't attempt to understand them," Chat Blanc said with a laugh, turning back to face her. "But it's a fact - Caesar defeated his enemy, and then took over Rome. Who's to say these people won't do the same to Paris?"

Chloe looked at him a moment, and truly thought over the words he said. Although she was loathe to admit it, Chloe had to say that the man had a point. Ladybug and Chat Noir and their new friends had immense power - who was to say that once Hawkmoth was out of the way and they were no longer needed, they would remain and rule Paris?

"I can see it in your face," the man said. "You see my point."

"How do I know that this isn't a trick? An Akuma?" Chloe asked boldly, crossing her arms.

"You make an excellent point," Chat Blanc said, walking back over to her. "But if was here to hurt you, I would have already. Like I said, I came here for your help."

"Why do you need my help?" Chloe asked.

"You are the daughter of the mayor, no one is more dedicated to protecting this city then you," he said simply with a shrug of his shoulder. "Become my partner, and we can protect Paris from not only Hawkmoth, but these villains masquerading as heroes as well."

Chloe took a shaky breath and shut her eyes. This man scared her to her core, but something in her made her believe him. Everything he said made her think twice. How many times could one point to when history had repeated itself?

No more. Not on her watch.

"What do you need me to do?"

Chat Blanc smiled.

"You know what your problem is bugaboo?" Chat Noir commented. Ladybug stopped in her tracks, standing gracefully on the top of the rooftop with a start. This had been a routine patrol, one they went on nearly every night - filled with banter and the occasional stopping of a robbery. But the sudden seriousness had caused her to stop dead.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Ladybug teased, hoping to revert back to a banter filled discussion on if ladybugs or cats were better. Things with Chat Noir had been too confusing lately for her to be serious - one second she found herself feeling butterflies and the next she could barely stand stand to be near him. The latter usually came after a particularly bad pun.

"You are never satisfied," Chat Noir said, rising to his feet next to her, his smile telling her that he was intentionally ignoring her question.

"What?" Ladybug blinked. Where had that come from?

"Much like me, you never will be satisfied with where you are," Chat Noir continued. "You want to protect Paris, and you'll never be satisfied until literally nothing happens here."

"We're here to protect them Chat," Ladybug defended, "Of course I won't be satisfied until it's safe here."

Chat Noir laughed with a shake of his head, and motioned to the street below. "I never said it was a bad thing, mi'lady," he commented.

"Well, you said problem," Ladybug teased. "I assumed you meant it was a bad thing." Chat smiled again, and for a moment Ladybug could just stare at him, as the window blew in his hair and his eyes shone. She had never really taken a moment to notice that before and she was appalled by that.

"So...what will you never satisfied with?" Ladybug asked. Chat Noir darkened at that and shrank back.

"Something with my family," he said offhandedly. "Nothing you should worry about."

Mari.

Ladybug placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him. Whatever bothered him, he had to know that she would worry about right? They were partners, best friends, if one worried, both would. Didn't he know that by now?

Mari!

"Chat…" she said softly.

MARINETTE!

Marinette opened her eyes, a sharp pain in her left eye.

"Sometimes, it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer that question." - Thomas Jefferson.

Again, it's short and I left you hanging. Ugh - I hate time restraints. But I love the show, so I continue! Oh, and laissez les bon temps roulez!

(My brain: You're two days late for Mardi Gras, but whatever.)

No question this time. Instead, I ask that you lend your prayers to a group of kids that were run over by a SUV near where I live. Twelve kids were hurt and I ask that you keep them in your prayers. I don't know any personally, but it was a tragic accident and I ask that you keep them in your prayers. Thank you.

Review replies:

shadowpixie01: Where da update at tho? And LadyNoir in this chap. :) I didn't attempt to intentionally include MariChat, but yeah, it happened. You know about my love affair with MariChat. Now - *flips hair dramatically and does "z" hand snap formation* Pl-ea-th-er!

dagma0397: I wasn't even aware that the name Rythmix had anything to do with Little Mix, I'm not a fan of them. It's a name I choose because liked a villain-esque name.

mayuralover: I have plans for the Chat Blanc meeting. I have big plans. *evil smirk* Thanks for the emoji. :)

FicsFromAnAnbuFan: Another Evillustrator fan. Yes! And thanks for the words on Chloe, I wanted her to be like Pacifica from Gravity Falls, nicer but not suddenly the nicest thing ever. I hope it's what happens on the show proper. Any thoughts on Chloe this chapter? I hope she was in character.